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Report: AppleCare to undergo major changes in fall

Apple informed staff at a recent town hall session that major changes would be coming to the AppleCare and AppleCare+ programs this fall, according to a report. Many of the changes will apparently focus on in-house repairs — instead of exchanging an iPhone, iPod, or iPad for a new device, Apple will repair the same device and return it to the customer. Apple Stores will reportedly have the ability to replace displays by June, and to repair cameras, sleep/wake buttons and logic boards by July. Advanced diagnostic tools to remotely assess hardware issues will also be available. It’s unclear whether this new system will lengthen initial turnaround times for customers, who were previously able to walk into Apple Stores and swap devices quickly, though repaired units might not require time-consuming content restoration.

AppleCare may introduce a new tier for consumers, instead of specific products, and offer in-store training for customers. There’s also a possibility that AppleCare will be reconfigured as a subscription model. Additionally, free support for the iPhone may jump from 90 days to one year without buying AppleCare. Apple Vice President Tara Burch announced the changes, which would come to the U.S., then the rest of the world, reportedly under the “One Apple” brand — though it’s unclear if “One Apple” is an internal or marketing term. [via Apple Insider]

Comments

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The only way this makes sense if this is just for the out of standard warranty period AppleCare services, while those within the 1 year period still get instant swaps. Then I guess it works as intended: discourages people from buying into what has probably been a barely profitable if not outright losing program where they get 3 years of coverage on devices built to last 2.

If a more general change, this sounds like a PR nightmare waiting to become very real. The Genius bar is booked close to 100% of the time at my Apple store with walk-ins being told to come back hours later if not being scheduled the following day…

Now, picture all those people with genuine hardware problems going through the process to get in for an appointment being sent home problem unfixed and no-iPhone / iPad / MacBook and then coming back, when?, a week later? They can barely handle their load of 15 minute face-to-face diagnose & replace appointments. I can’t imagine the backlog of repairs that will pile up if that’s the case.